Regret
by MissAntique
Summary: Professor Layton has lost many people in his life, and it leaves him full of sadness and regret. He soon realizes he needs to let others know his true feelings before he looses them forever, and he has his heart set on one old friend. (Takes place after The Unwound Future.)


**AUTHOR'S ****NOTE****: This takes place after the Unwound Future and does contain spoilers pertaining to this game. I do not own Professor Layton or its characters.**

* * *

It had been a month since the events of the future London and Clive's mobile fortress, set on abolishing all of London. Professor Hershel Layton, the man who prevented London's demise, was sitting alone in his quiet office in Gressenheller University. He sat on his couch, the top hat he never removed from his head set on the table before him. He stared at its tall, dark figure, entranced.

He looked back, shortly after Clive's machine was destroyed, along with future London. Layton was standing in an alley, his apprentice, Luke, behind him. A woman, Claire, stood before him.

Ten years ago, Claire had been working on a time machine experiment with two others- Dimitri Allen and Bill Hawks. Bill, an impatient man who coveted money, decided to try out the machine earlier than planned. This ended badly, as Claire was killed, along with Clive's parents.

But, somehow, the time machine worked, she was shot ten years into the future, Professor Layton's present, though she was unstable. She had to return to her own time.

"I suppose this is it, Hershel. I have to go back to my own time. Back to that day when we parted."

Layton frowned. "No, Claire..."

Claire moved forward to Hershel, her eyes staring into his.

"I'm sorry I can't stay." She touched his cheek, and lightly kissed him on the lips, a tender goodbye kiss. She then turned and began her departure.

Layton panicked. "Claire, wait!"

Claire jumped to a stop, sad eyes glancing at the ground. She turned to him, feigning a smile.

Suddenly, she began to glow. She glanced down at her hands. "We had so many...plans for the future. Do you remember, Hershel?"

She glanced up and smiled, tears forming in her eyes. "I'll...I'll miss you...and our...unwound future."

The professor couldn't stand it anymore. "You CAN'T go!" He yelled.

Claire gasped. She had never heard so much panic in his voice, so much pain.

"I don't want to say goodbye again. I can't. I won't!" He continued to yell.

Claire smiled. "I know you. And I know you'll stay strong. After all, that's what a gentleman does." She sighed. "I must go now, Hershel. Thank you for everything. Goodbye."

Claire turned away before the poor professor could protest. Time appeared to slow down as she turned a corner, the last glimpse of Layton's former love.

Luke, who had witnessed the whole scene, suddenly dashed after Claire. He reached the corner, and proclaimed, "She's gone!"

Layton's eyes filled with tears. He turned away, so as to not make a scene in front of his apprentice.

The professor began to cry and removed his hat, the hat Claire gave to him many years ago. He held it close to his heart, staring at the sky, as tiny snowflakes fell from the cloudy sky.

If felt like a dream. A sad dream he couldn't wake up from. But no matter how many times Layton tried to wake up, he found it was real.

Professor Layton jerked awake. He had fallen asleep in his office again. He had been doing that a lot lately, ever since Luke left.

Luke had to move away from London with his mother and father last week. The professor could still see his depressed face, his usually happy spirit consumed by sadness as the poor boy said farewell to his mentor.

Luke slipped off his suitcase he was sitting on. "I guess this is goodbye."

Layton smiled. "Oh, no, my boy. This is 'so long' not 'goodbye'.

Luke sniffed as he began to cry.

"Now Luke. You know a gentleman never makes a scene in public." Layton explained.

Luke attempted to calm down, but with no avail. "I'm sorry, Professor! But I'm not a gentleman yet!" Luke exclaimed.

Luke ran up to the professor and hugged him, hiding his face in Layton's shirt, and began to cry loudly. Some people began to stare at the spectacle, though Layton didn't care.

"There, there." He comforted as began to tear up as well.

It broke the Professor's heart, seeing his young apprentice leave like that. He had practically watched the boy grow up, becoming a smart, young man. They had solved so many mysteries together; it wouldn't be the same without him.

Layton still had Flora, of course, though she had become quite sad since Luke's departure. The two had become extremely close in the past few years. Layton could tell they were fond of each other, and Luke always looked out for Flora.

The professor sighed. He missed Luke. He missed Claire. He missed a lot of people. He had lost many friends through the years, and it seemed every mystery he solved involved death and loss at one point.

This caused him to look back, back to when he first met Luke, and his assistant Emmy. He remembered how they banded together, though mere acquaintances, and solved the mystery lurking over Luke's hometown Mistallery. This brought to his attention that he missed Emmy.

In fact, he missed her a lot. He thought about her often, wondering where she could be now. Ever since she left her position as his assistant, they hadn't kept in touch. He felt as though he had lost yet another friend.

"I won't stand for this any longer." Layton concluded to himself. He was not going to lose anyone else he cared about.

* * *

Professor Layton stood in front of an apartment door, attempting to gather enough courage to knock.

"Good grief, Hershel, just do it." Layton lectured to himself.

He lifted his hand to knock, but quickly drew it back.

'Coward.' Layton thought to himself.

He finally took a deep breath, drew in the tiny ounce of courage he had, and knocked.

"Coming!" a voice yelled from inside. Footsteps were heard, and then the door opened.

Wide eyes stared at Layton. "Pr...Professor?"

"Hello, Emmy."

Emmy stood frozen by surprise in the doorway. The two stood for a moment in awkward silence. The professor finally broke it. "Uh, may I come in?"

Emmy's eyes grew wider, suddenly out of her little shock. "Oh! O-Of course." She quickly opened the door to let the professor in.

"I wasn't expecting you here." Emmy stated. "Why don't you take a seat?" She pointed to a couch in what appeared to be the living room. Layton nodded and sat down.

She turned towards him. "Do you want some tea or..."

"Tea would be nice." Layton answered.

Emmy left the room to go make tea, leaving the professor alone with his thoughts. 'I hope she doesn't mind me barging in uninvited like this.' he thought.

A few moments later, Emmy returned with two cups, steaming with freshly made tea. She handed one to Layton and sat down next to him.

"So what brings you here?" She asked, her usually bubbly attitude surfacing.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Layton answered nervously.

Emmy nodded. "All right. What is it?"

"Some tough things have happened recently, and they made me realize something." Layton began.

Emmy's expression saddened. "You're talking about Luke, aren't you?"

Layton nodded.

"I'm sorry about that. It's hard to believe he left." Emmy commented.

"Yes, well..." Layton muttered.

Emmy looked concerned. "That's not all, I take it."

"Not exactly." Layton began. "It's not just that."

Emmy leaned closer, obviously intrigued by his statement.

"As you most likely know, many people I have known at one point have had tragic things happen to them. Some have left, some had gone mad, others have died." Layton explained.

Emmy nodded. She understood, the first mystery she solved with the professor ended with a death.

"I've come to realize, people come and go every day. If you don't make an impression on them, or show how much they mean to you, you may lose them forever." Layton pointed out.

Emmy stared intently at the man before her, attempting to figure out just what he was saying.

Layton stared into Emmy's eyes. "Emmy, I have lost many people in my life."

He slipped his hand into hers. "Friends, family, and acquaintances alike."

Layton smiled. "Emmy, I care about you. I don't want to lose you. I can't stand to lose you."

Emmy stared at him, shocked. Was she hearing him right?

"Really?" Was all Emmy could manage.

Layton smiled and nodded.

Emmy didn't respond. She didn't know how.

"Emmy?" Layton was concerned with her silence.

"I...I..." She couldn't find the words to say. No word seemed right for the moment.

In a flash, Emmy jerked around, wrapping her arms around the professor. Tears of pure joy began to take form in her eyes.

"I...I care about you too. I always have." She managed to say.

Layton hugged her back, happy for her response. The two sat like that for a while, just the two of them locked in a loving embrace.

They finally broke loose, and sat staring into each others eyes.

"Emmy."

"Profess..." Emmy paused. "Hershel."

She was rather shocked she used his first name, but was pleased. She always wanted to use his real name.

Layton smiled. He leaned forward. Emmy did the same. The two slowly leaned in, and soon found themselves in a sweet kiss.

Time appeared to freeze in that moment. Layton felt like this was all a dream, though he knew it wasn't. This was real, and he was grateful it was.

Emmy and Layton broke away slowly, and leaned on each others foreheads.

Emmy smiled, a beautiful smile. He realized it reminded him of a very familiar smile, Claire's. He still loved Claire, he always would, but he knew she wanted him to be happy.

Being here with Emmy, that made him happy. He wouldn't mind if they stayed there forever, frozen in time. He realizes he needed to move on, let go of the regrets. He can't change the past, but he can look forward to the future, and with Emmy beside him, his future looked bright.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry if this was long, but I just really got into it when I began writing. I was so depressed by the Unwound Future's ending, (I cried so hard) that I decided to add to it! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! :)**


End file.
